It’s back to the drawing board for Steve Kerr and the Warriors after two straight defeats.

The Golden State Warriors appear to have hit a brick wall over their past two games. After losing steam on Saturday night in a 104-94 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Dubs were once again beset by late-game woes as they let a Brooklyn Nets team that was on the second night of a back-to-back to outscore them 41-28 in the fourth quarter to hand Golden State its fifth loss of the season in 17 games.

While the Warriors are far from panic mode after just two defeats, the team will have to gather itself so as to not allow this mini-slump snowball into something disastrous. And for head coach Steve Kerr, he believes that the team must go back to the drawing board and sort its late-game execution out, for he points out their lack in this regard as their undoing over the past two games.

“You don’t want to overreact. I mean, two games ago, everyone was feeling great… We have to address what’s happened these last two games. I don’t think it’s a fatigue thing. I think it’s an execution thing,” Kerr said, via 95.7 The Game on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“You don’t want to overreact. I mean, two games ago, everyone was feeling great… We have to address what’s happened these last two games. I don’t think it’s a fatigue thing. I think it’s an execution thing.”

Steve Kerr on if he thinks he needs to make changes to the rotation pic.twitter.com/hy36vNIL6h

— 95.7 The Game (@957thegame) November 26, 2024

Steve Kerr and the Warriors go back to the drawing board

Steve Kerr has been adamant in the past that one of the main factors that is contributing to the (perceived) decline of quality in play in the NBA is the teams’ lack of practice time. And for the Warriors, this may be what is costing them at the moment. But the good news is that the Warriors will have two practice sessions later this week.

Perhaps this helps the Warriors rectify their defensive issues; they did not execute well on the defensive end late in their loss to the Nets; specifically, Dennis Schroder carved them up at the point of attack, with the Nets guard scoring 17 of his team’s 41 points in the period as he got to his spots at will.

For a team that’s carving an elite two-way identity, their fourth-quarter defensive woes are becoming a problematic development. On Saturday, the Spurs outscored them 33-13 in the fourth period, allowing plenty of back cuts from Harrison Barnes and Stephon Castle to rattle their defense.

“Felt like we lost juice again… not a lot of energy. Not a lot of force,” Kerr added, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.

With a game against the top team in the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, coming up on Wednesday, there will be no better test for the Dubs’ mental fortitude and execution capabilities late in close games.